Ashlines
ASHLAWN E-NEWSLETTER
MAY 15, 2011
Upcoming Events:

May 14 – FUN
FAIR! 11-3

May 21 – Fun
Run; 8:30 am

SOLs –
3rd Grade –
May 23-May 27
4th Grade -May 31 – Jun 2
5th Grade -May 16 - 20

June 2 – 7pm
Dominoes
Pizza Night

June 3 –
Jimsey Frye
Memorial
Service

June 7 –
Lettuce Lunch

June 7 –
Volunteer
Reception; PTA
Meeting

June 15 – Field
Day
Ashlawn Fun Fair
Saturday, May 14, 2011
11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Come have a BLAST with us at this year’s Fun Fair! This year’s
theme is Ashlawn Blasts Off! Activities include: Moon bounce,
cake walk, bake sale, scavenger hunt, face painting, crazy hair
decorating, raffle, and much more. Play fun games for all ages.
Invite your family, friends & neighbors.
Please consider helping by baking a cake, making an international
dish, selling tickets, staffing a booth or games, putting up & taking
down signs. Help make the Fun Fair a success by volunteering.
To sign up, go to http://www.signupgenius.com/go/funfair52.
Principal’s Corner
Welcome Spring! We kicked off Spring with a celebration of Earth Month and students
and families committed to engaging in “acts of green” demonstrating the many ways we
can protect our environment. As Earth month came to a close we celebrated by taking
third through fifth graders to see the movie African Cats.
As the school year comes to a close students will have many opportunities to
demonstrate the growth and progress they have achieved this year. Chorus, band and
orchestra will have concerts, end of year assessments and SOL tests will be given and
special celebrations will take place. As we are busy with the many events and activities
of the fourth quarter we are also beginning preparations for next year, including placing
students in classes for the fall. Teachers, counselors, and administrators work
collaboratively to create balanced classes and match student needs with teacher
strengths. All returning Ashlawn students received a Parent Class Placement Input form.
This optional form is for you to share information about your child with the school staff,
as you know your child best. Ms. Ellis and I will review these forms and use the
information provided to help assist in making class placements.
Looking Ahead:
PTA Events
Ashlawn continues to thrive and we anticipate growing to a school of 475 students next
year. To accommodate our student population a 5-unit modular relocatable (formerly
known as trailers) will be installed at Ashlawn. We will share the timeline and any
additional changes as we get more information.

June 22 – 5th
Grade
Promotion
We would also like to offer a heartfelt thank you to all parents and community members
who made teacher appreciation week so special. The amazing daily breakfasts and
delicious staff lunch were so appreciated and such a treat!

June 24 – last
day of school
A few reminders as we move into May and warm weather. Check you child’s attire, the
children have grown over the winter and some spring clothes may no longer be school
appropriate. Also, if you are sending in treats for birthdays or end of year activities
please be mindful of allergies of students in class. Please refrain from sending in food
made with or containing peanuts, tree nuts or macadamia nuts. Lastly, I would like to
thank Holly Hawthorne and Arlington Traditional School for distributing fliers and
supporting Ashlawn’s monthly pizza nights.
As always, if you have concerns, comments or suggestions please don’t hesitate to
contact us.
I hope to see everyone at the fun fair!
-Judy Apostolico-Buck
Parent Teacher Association (PTA) Information
HEALTHY KIDS/HEALTHY PLANET
Family Fun Run and Walk: More than 140 Ashlawn members have signed
ISO Courtyard
Garden Chair:
Act as
overseer;
organize a few
volunteer days;
determine the
amount of
hours to put in;
lots of help
available;
ability to hire
professional
weeder; obtain
joy and
satisfaction of
improving and
maintaining
outdoor
classroom for
our children.
up for the Run, starting at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, May 21! This is the largest turnout
ever. Now, we need your help to make the event go smoothly. We're seeking
volunteers to help with set-up, stamping participants as they complete each lap,
distributing t-shirts, hats and sweatbands, and clean up. Please contact Stacy Roberts
([email protected]) to help out -- it just takes 30 minutes of your time. Many thanks!
Earth Day: Ashlawn celebrated Earth Day in many ways throughout the month. In
addition to classroom activities, here are some other highlights:
Walk and Roll to School - On Wednesay, April 27th, kids, teachers and parents
showed their support for Earth Day by leaving their cars at home and walking or 'rolling'
to school. What a wonderful sight to see so many kids running, laughing and playing
outside! Then everyone met on the basketball courts for a rally, where Judy A-B gave
the kids some inspiring words about the importance of their actions in protecting the
Earth, and then led the kids in the traditional 'A-S-H-L-A-W-N' cheer. A special thanks to
staff from the Hilton hotel for their help. See the pictures at this link:
http://www.apsva.us/1544209201222760/blank/browse.asp?a=383&BMDRN=2000&BC
OB=0&c=58757#2011%20Earth%20Day
Family Acts of Green – Members of Ashlawn’s Environment Club developed
a checklist of simple ways you can go green in your home. Check out the bulletin board
in the front lobby and stay tuned as we tally the checklists to see if Ashlawn met it's goal
of 1,000 Acts of Green.
Earth-Friendly Lunch – We wanted to see how little trash we can produce at lunchtime
on Earth Day! Suggestions included: packing lunch items in reusable containers, using
juice boxes (which are recyclable at Ashlawn) instead of juice bags (which are not),
packing fresh fruit and produce (which can be added to Ashlawn’s compost bin),
reducing the number of pre-packaged items, using reusable water bottles instead of
disposable ones, and packing lunch in a reusable or a paper bag (instead of a plastic
bag). A big thank you to the parents and Hilton staff who volunteered to make the lunch
a success. Students kept more than 25 pounds out of the trash in just one day.
Imagine what we can do over the course of a school year! And you can find more tips
at http://www.epa.gov/osw/education/lunch.htm.
Look for information about the upcoming Lawns to Lettuce For Lunch
Deanne Sobczak, PTA President, [email protected], 703-522-8715
Look for Ashlawn
Elementary School
Group
on